


Pitch

by Broken_Clover



Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Interspecies Relationship(s), Other, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: A strange friendship between a doctor and his shadow (X-era alternate ending)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Pitch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samarline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samarline/gifts).



> For Samarline, who has drawn some wonderful artwork for the often-ignored story ending where Faust takes Eddie into himself. It's such a delight, I knew I had to make a little something.

It’s strange how Eddie’s body can feel so solid and yet so yielding to his touch. It’s difficult to find words for it. It isn’t like anything he’d ever experienced before.

A shadow is merely supposed to be an absence of light. Faust knows this. A shadow is supposed to be intangible, untouchable. Eddie is something else entirely. The spectre at his feet, still so mysterious and puzzling, even to someone like him. Not that Faust can say someone is peculiar without coming across as hypocritical. Though he doesn’t mean ‘odd’ in a derogatory way. He’s always believed peculiarity and strangeness make the world a better place. A more interesting one, at least.

It’s precisely that strangeness that endears him. They’re both oddities. It’s part of why they work so well together as partners. And it could be the reason Zato proved to be such a difficult host. It seems he never saw the creature as anything other than a weapon. Never saw the potential of him as a living creature. While far from the level of trying to strap him down and pick him apart, Faust takes a great deal of interest in all the intricacies of a Forbidden Beast. What makes him so unique.

A lot of that involves touch. Eddie is a shadow, forever tethered to him in some manner or another. It’s natural that their sense of personal space is a lot different than everyone else’s. He dislikes having to use Eddie as a weapon, but even then, they still blend together, as the wings on his back and the talons on his feet, and the blanket he sleeps under at night.

Faust still spends many of his nights in the woods, but it’s not something he minds. Having a companion now certainly helps. For something designed as a weapon, he learned quickly that Eddie was remarkably cuddly, forming velvety-black wings to wrap him in, while resting a scaly head on his chest or back. 

The feeling is like nothing else. The texture and consistency can change within the same moments. Sometimes he’s as thin and fluid as water, other times it’s like kneading clay. More often than not, when he presses his fingers against Eddie’s body, he feels them sink into his viscous form. It’s almost too tempting to see what he can do with it, scooping palmfuls of perfectly dry wetness, sculpting tiny gouges and drawing out hair-thin filaments.

It’s not that Eddie doesn’t notice. Eddie has no trouble making his opinion known. If he becomes annoyed by all the touching, he’ll flap off and roost in a nearby tree, connected to his host by only a thin trail of darkness. It would be easy to teleport up to him, but Faust gives him his space. Parasite or not, he’s entitled to that much. He gets the impression that Eddie simply allows him to do so. He doesn’t mind being approached with innocent curiosity. If anything, Faust has been getting the impression that Eddie enjoys it, having a host that views him as something fascinating, rather than a simple weapon.

Parasite or not, Eddie is still a living thing. That much is undeniable. So he treats him as such. It seems only fair.

_**“Are you cold, doctor?”** _

Eddie’s dark scales absorb heat. He’s always warm to the touch. It’s an inviting kind of warmth, one he gladly leans into when Eddie takes control of the wings to wrap him up. Faust lets him decide when the day is over. He could wander for hours longer, but he’d rather not put a strain on his new friend.

“I’m fine. But let’s rest for the night. There’s always tomorrow.”

Liquid darkness rolls down his back as he sits. Faust feels it flow between his fingers before it puddles on the ground and congeals. A head slithers back up and rests on his shoulder, solid and stable. He reaches up to stroke his snout. Beak? His face. The creature lets out a low, purring rumble of content as he’s rubbed, butting against the doctor’s hand like a loyal animal.

“Comfortable?”

The wings wrap tighter around him. _**"Yes.”**_

It’s a strange set of circumstances. Given how the rest of his life had gone so far, though, he supposes it’s par for the course.


End file.
